The Atacama Field Trial : A Stepping Stone to the Planets

The near generation of planetary agents will be robots. Well suited for
exploration, high performance mobile robots with capabilities for reliable,
sustained operation, autonomous navigation, and responsiveness to remote
human control offer vast potential in high return planetary missions and
commercial planetary enterprise.

In the Atacama Field Trial, NASA and Carnegie Mellon University will deploy
Nomad, a self-contained, self-reliant mobile robot, to demonstrate robotic
capabilities relevant to long-duration, long-distance planetary excursion.
In summer 1997, Nomad will embark on an unprecedented 200-kilometer trek
across the Atacama desert in northern Chile. During the two-month
demonstration, Nomad will use autonomous driving and safeguarded
teleoperation to navigate across uncharted terrain. Nomad will draw on a
full complement of onboard resources to determine its position, generate
patterned navigation useful for terrestrial and planetary surveys, and
deliver visualization and communications never before achieved from a mobile
robot.

The Atacama Field Trial will be accessible to interested audiences by way of
live broadcast from the desert. In addition, the Atacama Field Trial will
combine Nomad's imagery, communications, and safeguarded teleoperation with
a virtual environment interface to allow novice drivers such as researchers,
scientists, and partner organizations (science centers, schools, and
commercial sponsors) the opportunity to operate Nomad from U. S. based
control center(s) and over the internet.

Mobile Robotic Technologies

In the Atacama desert, Nomad will traverse harsh terrain analogous to that
found on the Moon and
Mars. The robot's four wheel drive/four wheel steering locomotion and
innovative transforming chassis will provide effective traction, mobility,
and propulsion across craters, rocks, and loose sands and soils typical of
the Atacama landscape. Unique to Nomad, the chassis expands, increasing the
wheel base and track for improved stability over rugged terrain. This
ability to expand - and contract - also allows Nomad to adapt its footprint
to variations in terrain. With a mass of only 375 kg, Nomad's maximum volume
is 2.4 x 2.4 x 2.4 m and minimum volume, 1.8 x 1 8 x 1.8 m.

In the Atacama Field Trial, Nomad's primary mode of navigation will be
safeguarded teleoperation. Proven in field trials of
increasing distance and difficulty, this navigation system incorporates
sensing, planning, and control that will enable Nomad to safeguard itself
against unpredictable terrain hazards as it responds to directives from a
remote operator. Nomad will also drive autonomously to demonstrate robotic
navigation during significant time delays and total loss of communications,
potential scenarios in planetary excursion.

The Atacama Field Trial will break new ground in the areas of robotic
communications and visualization. Going beyond current technology, which
precludes high data rate transfer over distance from a moving vehicle, Nomad
will use an onboard notebook-sized directional antenna and innovative
precision pointing technology to attain a high data rate of 2 Mbps while
traversing natural terrain. This technology, combined with high resolution,
panospheric imagery and a Virtual Environment
Vehicle Interface (VEVI), will produce a three-dimensional synthetic
terrain image with animation. Providing a rich interactive experience, this
interface will improve teleoperation of Nomad and enable broad public
participation from remote sites across the United States and on the
internet.

The Atacama Field Trial will test and validate robotic technologies and
capabilities critical to planetary excursion. Representing state-of-the-art
in mobile robotics research and development, Nomad will demonstrate
locomotion, navigation, visualization, and communications consistent with
the needs of bold exploration and planetary enterprise. With capabilities
forged in the desert, Nomad will serve as the precursor to robotic explorers
destined for distant planets.
Nomad is the culmination of the Lunar Rover Initiative
program, a NASA-sponsored research and development initiative of the
Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. LunaCorp is working to sign up
commercial sponsors for the Atacama trip to provide additional resources,
such as motion-platform based telepresence stations and easy-to-use active
links via the Internet.